More than 10,000 people enjoyed the events surrounding the 60th Anniversary D-Day concert at Dunsfold Aerodrome on Sunday

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AN appreciative crowd of more than 10,000 enjoyed a night to remember at the 60th Anniversary Commemorative Concert mounted at Dunsfold Aerodrome on Sunday by Cranleigh Village Hospital Trust.

D-Day veterans were given a free pass to the event and they were treated to a Spitfire flypast and a first-class performance of popular wartime classics by the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra conducted by Carl Davis, which culminated in a thrilling fireworks display.

A VIP dinner in the Second World War hangar, where General Dwight D Eisenhower gave a morale-boosting address on the eve of D-Day, was attended by more than 300 invited guests, and a further £7,000 was raised from the auction of a special commemorative print and two sculptures.

Part of the proceeds donated on the night will go towards the Reg Day World War II Museum to be built at Dunsfold Park. Mr Day, one of the few remaining veterans of 98 Squadron based at the site, was a special guest at the concert.

“It is impossible to thank everyone who made the event so memorable,” a hospital trust spokesman said.

“But special thanks must go to The Rutland Group’s chief executive Jim McAllister and his staff. Without the site and their help this event would never have got off the ground.”

Cranleigh Hospital Shop volunteer, 92-year-old Mabel Edwards, who is a fervent supporter of the £2.5 million campaign to build a new cottage hospital and health centre, said: “The whole event made me tingle from top to toe.”